FSX - a 90 second review

FSX hits the streets tomorrow in the USA and if anyone was wondering
whether or not to get it maybe this will help.

If the cost of the program doesn't seem like a lot of money to you and
you've been anxious to get it, by all means, go ahead and get it. Sure the
criticism here has been brutal, that's because the early birds were the
first to have their high expectations justifiably turn to disappointment.
If you've been reading here this week, your expectations are likely not so
high now.

You are no doubt ready to be shocked by the frame rate hit, but frame rates
can be managed to a point where even a guy like me with a single core 2003
computer can fly around the FSX world. Expect a lot of work to make things
acceptable.

You will be greeted with a new look to the flight sim world on the ground.
Some people are thrilled with the look right out of the box; others like me
find it imperfect. Expect the water to be hideous as usual and need new
textures. Expect to see sloppy landclass decisions that create arid plains
in jungle parts of Africa and Canadian mountains that look like sand piles
with ice cream on top. Expect textures that are new and hold great
potential to look fantastic. Also expect textures that are different but
not necessarily better. The first "must have" blockbuster add-on for FSX
will be a product like Ultimate Terrain FSX that corrects all this. This
won't be a little product. Expect a lot of work to make things acceptable.

On the plus side of things, all of the aircraft are way above Microsoft's
old standards. I was pleased to see roads that were straight edged instead
of spray-painted. Some people love the missions. Some people can't wait
to fly on line with others. And, I'm sure everyone who downloaded the demo
can see the nice little changes to the interface.

Where does this leave us?

I think the important concept here is to expect a lot of work to make
things acceptable. I plan to let FSX live on my hard drive next to my more
highly refined and in most cases better looking FS9 while things evolve.

So, what's the point of getting it?

As I see it, what we're really buying with FSX are two little things that
FS9 will never have:
1) Terrain mesh complexity can be set to 1 meter
2) And, terrain texture resolution down to 7 cm.

This means that in the years to come when we have more capable graphics
systems and add-on developers have a year or two to work on scenery we have
the potential for mind boggling add-ons.

In summary, for most of us FSX is not ready for prime time and it won't be
for quite some time. I intend to piddle with it and I'm sure some day in
the distant future there will come a sad day when I press the uninstall
button for FS9.

Dallas wrote:
> FSX hits the streets tomorrow in the USA and if anyone was wondering
> whether or not to get it maybe this will help.
>

My compliments on your review, and not just because I agree with it.

You are indeed a master poster as some fishermen are master baiters, so
keep up the good work.

SnakeEyes @@